280 dead in Afghanistan earthquake and many more wounded

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

A horrific earthquake in Afghanistan has led to the deaths of 280 people with many more wounded. The magnitude 6.1 quake struck around 44km (27 miles) from the city of Khost, near the Pakistani border, at a depth of 51km early on Wednesday (June 22), according to the US Geological Survey.

A resident near the Afghan capital, Kabul, posted on the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) website, describing how he experienced "strong and long jolts". "It was strong," said a resident of the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar.

Around 119 million people in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India have reportedly felt the shaking, the Mirror reports. Read more: Boy, 13, out with friends later found dead in river in Cardiff A death toll of at least 255 people were reported by the state-run Bakhtar news agency on Wednesday morning while also reporting that rescuers were rushing to the scene by helicopter.

It is believed dozens of people have been trapped under the rubble caused by the quake. The head of the Taliban administration's natural disaster ministry, Mohammad Nassim Haqqani, said the majority of deaths happened in the province of Paktika in the eastern part of the country.